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engineer, blog, review

QPS Blog Year in Review: Lessons from Critical Power Discussions

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At Quality Power Solutions, it’s important to us to build a knowledge base with our readers and customers, so we can create a meaningful shared dialogue on educational topics related to the critical power industry. We went through quite a few topics this year, so it’s always interesting to go back over what we shared. Here, then, is our QPS “blog year” in review summarizing our 2018 discussions. Continue reading “QPS Blog Year in Review: Lessons from Critical Power Discussions” »

Eaton, summary report, blackout tracker

5 Takeaways from Eaton’s 2017 Blackout Tracker Report

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Since 2008, power equipment provider Eaton has collated and released an annual report called the Eaton Blackout Tracker. This report compiles annual power outage causes and associated impacts in the United States. The report’s purpose is to provide greater awareness of the vulnerability of the U.S. power grid, the types of losses outages can cause, and the importance of managing risks associated with outages. The most-recent 2017 Blackout Tracker Report compiles data from more than 3,500 outages across all 50 states. This report is based on reported power outages from various news services, newspaper reports, websites and personal accounts. The 2017 report marks the 10th and final year that Eaton will provide this report. Here are the 5 main takeaways to pay attention to when reviewing this year’s report. Continue reading “5 Takeaways from Eaton’s 2017 Blackout Tracker Report” »

Power Outages Caused by Squirrels

Hundreds of Power Outages in the US Are Caused by…Squirrels?

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When you think of power outages in this country, you generally think of weather related incidents and natural disasters – things like floods, fire, ice storms, heat waves and tornadoes.

It’s true, many power outages can be attributed to these events. However, believe it or not, many of the power outages that occur in the US are not the result of bad weather, but instead the result of squirrels and other small animals.

Yes, squirrels! And incidents seem to be on the rise. In fact, the number of incidents has significantly risen since we last touched on the squirrel issue in 2014. This squirrel problem is noteworthy enough that there is even a tongue-in-cheek website devoted to tracking power outages, or “cyber squirrel attacks” across the world: http://cybersquirrel1.com/  Even the Eaton Blackout Tracker lists animal related outages as causing 5% of all outages country-wide.

Continue reading “Hundreds of Power Outages in the US Are Caused by…Squirrels?” »

Surgical Facility’s Downtime Disaster

Down the Drain: A Surgical Facility’s Downtime Disaster

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The facility manager at a surgery center thought he had covered all his bases during recent renovation. But when the power suddenly went out, the surgical team was – of all things –  unable to wash their hands. Yes, downtime can affect your facility in unexpected ways.

Continue reading “Down the Drain: A Surgical Facility’s Downtime Disaster” »